It was undoubtedly a bit jarring for many fans and generated by far the most response, much of which was thoughtful criticism — and some of which was nonsensical raging.

I responded to numerous questions on Twitter early in the week. Below are a handful posed in the comment section below the original column.

(There was no Hotline fan poll. But I’ve got one planned for early next week.)

shipwreckedcrew: They insist on playing Stanford week 2, and playing Notre Dame at the end of the season when the game is in LA. USC hurts itself in terms of removing flexibility from the schedule.

My response: The Stanford game in Week Two is a byproduct (for both schools) of the Notre Dame series. And yes, there is a measure of flexibility removed from their schedules. But the conference knew about those factors long before it set the 2017 lineup. That didn’t have to be a trip to Pullman. (The conference also knew prior to the schedule being released that WSU would have a top-25 caliber team.)

steveD: Just stop it Wilner-your claims make you look exactly like the weak-ass “reporter” you are. (It’s all about MONEY-so just shut the hell up.)

My response: If only I had written a story about money at some point in the past few years. Hmmmm …

TheMaz: Let me guess… you went to USC, right? Aw, poor, poor USC. The one year they aren’t on NCAA probation and they get knocked out of playoff contention. You know what, you have to earn that!

My response: It would all be so much easier if I had gone to USC, but alas … To clarify: USC has been off probation for three years/four seasons.

CardinalRule: I would add to your point about contenders losing early – that the Playoff Committee can also take note of the many injuries on the USC offensive line which accounts for their high wire act

My response: That’s very true. In 2014, the committee took Oregon’s injuries into account during the selection process (the loss to Arizona) and will do the same for the Trojans. But USC is still a significant step closer to elimination than it would be without the loss.

CandidOne: You attempt to linearize phenomena that can only relate nonlinearly. You impose constants where variables are active, sometimes exponentially. There was no way for anyone to foresee that USC’s offensive line of tackle-to-tackle future-NFL players would be so decimated so soon.

My response: Ran your question past a physics professor and came back with this (kidding!) … To my way of thinking, the injuries were not as much of a factor as the general, top-to-bottom-of-the-depth-chart wear and tear, physically and emotionally, from the first month. WSU had injuries, too, but the Cougars were far fresher overall because of the non-taxing schedule.

George Wilson: FSU (ranked #3 at the time) isn’t whining about playing Alabama.

My response: That was entirely Florida State’s decision. It was a non-conference game.

Nathan Goncalves: This is pure nonsense. They struggled with a schedule that by every stretch of the imagination should have been a lay up for a top 5 team in the nation.

My response: Not sure I agree. The Sagarin computer ranks USC’s schedule as the fourth-toughest in the nation. There are no FCS teams, no low-level FBS teams, and the combined record of the five opponents is 16-8.

Bay_Area_Husky: Jon is so far off base with this article because the Pac12 actually already purposefully put USC into a favorable position to go to the college football playoff.

My response: By scheduling the Trojans to play 12 consecutive weeks? No coach wants a bye-less season.

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Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP top-25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree.

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